Member Spotlight: Meet Liz Miller
I spent the first half of my career in front of a computer. As an M&A analyst, then internal hedge fund security analyst with First Boston in the 1980s, I was on the leading edge of Wall Street’s boom in quantitative analysts. In the early 90s, I joined Oppenheimer Mutual Funds; after managing mutual funds for a short time, I realized I wanted to use my experience and expertise to help people achieve their financial goals.
I went on to become managing director and the head of equity research for Trevor, Stewart, Burton & Jacobsen in New York, where I managed and advised institutional and individual clients. I went to Wall Street with my Wharton classmates and thrived on the intensity. As I learned to select and manage investments, I loved that my success was easily measured by portfolio performance. But once I grabbed that brass ring, I looked around and realized I wanted to be part of the good that can be spread with financial expertise. Shortly after I started managing portfolios for individuals and families, they started asking me other questions related to many of the planning issues that successful families face. They would share that their accountant or attorney had brought up a planning topic but sent them to me for the next discussion.
This is when I realized so many successful people are left to coordinate all their professionals by themselves in a quest for the best solutions. In 2008, I decided to launch a firm dedicated to identifying and understanding all the wealth needs of clients and then helping them achieve their goals by managing their portfolios and coordinating the best advice from all their professionals. After 14 years of commuting to NYC, it was natural to open Summit Place Financial Advisors in Summit. I have been able to grow the firm for 15 years while raising and educating my daughters in Summit!
We are an SEC-registered, investment-centric firm in that we manage our client’s investments in-house and build portfolios around their individual goals and needs. In addition, we review and counsel on a client’s entire wealth needs including executive compensation plans, retirement and education planning, tax management, risk management, and estate planning For those that are building wealth that may include helping to establish a retirement savings strategy, building basic estate planning documents, analyzing executive compensation plans, regularly reviewing insurance policies or perhaps considering home purchases or refinancing options. For those that have achieved significant wealth, we may be discussing how to fund their lifestyle for years to come, how to protect and distribute wealth for future generations, and how to prepare children and grandchildren to build good financial values.
We know that genuine relationships grow over time and when carefully built, they can last generations. This is the core of our approach. Unlike many firms that assign hundreds of clients to advisors and put growth as their first annual business goal, Summit Place puts exceptional client experience as our top goal. We are committed to maintaining a team that has the time each day to think about our clients, what is happening in their lives, and their potential needs. We want to anticipate how we can help before our clients reach out to us.
I first heard of The Co-Co as they settled into their location on Summit Avenue. I was excited by a location and programming focused on supporting women. While we have a physical presence in Summit, my team and I quickly became community members. We love the energy you feel in The Co-Co space that inspires fresh growth. Each time we are there we meet new and exciting people. We have sponsored open house hours to answer financial questions for our peers and love learning about everybody’s journeys and goals. The Co-Co is our local home when we feel the need for personal support, and it is our giving center where we love to share our expertise with the amazing people we meet there.
